And We'll Never Be Royals
by Quinn the Jedi
Summary: The Royal Hale Family has demanded tribute from the kingdoms, searching for suitable mates for Prince Derek and the Princesses. Emperor Peter Hale has selected 5 youths of nobility for the royal children to chose from. AU slow burn Sterek
1. Chapter 1: Tribute to the Hales

Alternate universe: California and US doesn't exist; the western half of the continent a conquered land called Antioch. Supernatural creatures roam and rule under the royal Hale family. Slow burn Sterek and various other pairings tbd; I have to see how characters mesh.  
>Triggers – Probably gonna be a lot of them, so suck it up or don't read it. Slashhh xoxo<p>

_**And We'll Never Be Royals...**_

**Chapter 1: Tribute to the Hales**

_Kingdom of Antioch, Beacon Palace; 1577._

The joint kingdoms of Antioch had a long history of immense tragedies. Each territory ruled by different races and species, great wars waged between all of them for as long as time; now locked into an uneasy truce under the branching rule of the royal family. In 1551, Talia Hale's father had established peace by going to war against a common threat; uniting six kingdoms against two larger ones to save them all from being conquered. He had died in this quest, naming his daughter the Queen in his stead. Queen Talia Hale took a husband, King Dietrich Hale, to help her rule and manage the responsibilities; beginning their family with the birth of Laura, and Derek a year later.

King Hale was a magnificent and benevolent leader, all the kingdoms following him loyally; the magical humans of Avenal, werewolves of Escalon and Florin, shifters of Visalia, even the humans of Madera. Derek had no memories of this time, or of his father at all really; he died abruptly when he was six, on the morning of May 27th, 1560.

No one spoke of this, especially of how suddenly he became ill for fear of his mother hearing it; who would immediately collapse, overcome with grief. Derek began a romance of sorts with his mother's personal servant, a human girl named Paige; it was from her he heard about the funeral he couldn't remember, the people of the kingdom walking behind the procession down the streets. She described the banners they held, how his father's casket was held aloft as it was carried; his solemn and composed mother leading the procession with Laura and Derek on either side, her younger brother Peter trailing after them. Derek remembered none of this.

Queen Talia had been unknowingly pregnant with Cora when he died and despite the whispers of the people she never remarried. She grew weary keeping the peace between the kingdoms by herself, as his father had once done so effortlessly, relying more and more on Peter for support. The werewolf kingdoms were always making trouble for the humans, and the magical humans seemed to have withdrawn their support and it was always _something_. Queen Talia could not fill her husband's shoes, her father's shoes, she could not bear the weight of Antioch alone. On the eve of January 12, 1569; she fell ill and slipped off into a deep sleep none could wake her from.

Peter became enraged at her sudden illness and erupted in a fury; murdering half of the staff and his mother's personal servant under the belief someone had poisoned her. He swore to take control of the kingdom and return it to the old ways, and he did more than that; proclaiming himself King, then Emperor as he pushed their territories further and claimed more land.

In 1573 the kingdoms fought back against his tyrannical rule. Escalon's ruler, Duke Warren Lahey led the rebellion, conspiring with both the Duke of Florin and Countess Jennifer Blake of Avenal. With three kingdoms united against him, Emperor Hale went on a rampage, massacring the people that rose up and murdering dozens of nobles. When his enemies lay dead at his feet Emperor Hale knew he must somehow unite the fractured kingdoms; demanding the recently widowed Duchess Cassandra Lahey of Escalon wed Duke John Stilinski of Avenal, uniting the rule over magical humans and werewolves. The rebellion didn't last a week.

Now it is the year 1577; and there is about to be another major upset. Three weeks ago, Derek's younger sister Cora turned 16, of legal marrying age according to Peter's archaic standards. Derek and his older sister Laura were now 23 and 24, but their mother had never forced them to look for mates or marriage unless they wanted to. Peter, however, felt very differently.

"I'm just saying, Derek; you have to think about it. You could be king one day if you mate like a good puppy, instead of me just picking one of the three of you at random."

Peter sat at the head of the table, chewing on a piece of steak, smiling calmly at his nephew. Derek and Cora sat to his right, Laura on his left; he suppressed a growl and tried to eat his dinner in peace. His uncle was always trying to pit him and his siblings against each other, to fight for his favor so one day they might rule, it wore on his patience.

"Speaking of mates, where is Kate this evening?" Cora snapped at Peter by his side, Derek smirked at the subtle narrowing of Peter's eyes. Right after his mother had gotten ill, Peter had scoured the kingdoms for an acceptable mate, not wanting his right to rule to be questioned. He'd dug up a reject Countess from the human kingdom of Madera, the daughter of a Duke that had somehow become a werejaguar. Her name was Kate Argent and she was the most frightening woman he'd ever seen, which somehow made sense when it came to Peter.

"She is indisposed this evening. Why, do you request an audience with her?" he raised an eyebrow and Cora sat back in her chair a bit; no one wanted alone time with Kate Argent. She shook her head, he smiled at her and cut off another piece of steak, turning his attention to Laura. "And you my dear," he patted her hand as he took a bite of steak, "Are you excited to meet your possible mates?"

Laura's hazel eyes mirrored Derek's own as she glanced up at her siblings across the table before giving her uncle a tight smile. "Yeah, should be interesting I guess." her voice lacked enthusiasm, she cleared her throat and tried to sound more interested. "Do we know who will be arriving?"

It must have worked because his eyes lit up and he dropped his fork in excitement. "Oh yes! I'd almost forgotten." he snapped his fingers over his shoulder and his personal assistant appeared, an angry, scruffy looking girl named Malia who tended to grunt more than speak. She handed him a folded up piece of parchment before ducking back behind the large back of his chair; Peter opened the paper with care, grinning fondly.

"I'm quite pleased with the selection, if I don't say so myself. We've gotten the cream of the crop, all nobles, all attractive and of desirable ages, all with acceptable personality and intelligence scores. And they're all sexually ambiguous so you each have pick of the litter."

As that even needed saying in today's day in age.

"Oh goody," Cora mumbled beside him, Derek nudged her sympathetically with his knee under the table. Peter grinned, tapping the list.

"This one I'm excited about. We've selected Duke Liam Dunbar of Florin, he's 16, the youngest duke in history."

Derek's stomach rolled at the pleased tone in his uncle's voice, he kept up with politics; he knew damn well the reason he became duke in the first place was because Peter had both of his parents executed for treason. He was sure the poor kid was going to be thrilled to hang out with them when he got here, but whatever, minor detail.

"Then we have the granddaughter of Duke Gerard Argent of Madera, Lady Allison Argent joining us.." Peter listed the tribute from the human kingdom, continuing on before Derek could stop him, "As well as Lady Kira Yukimura, who is the daughter of the Marquess of Visalia. Then, these two are good; we have the step-brothers, Lords Stiles Stilinski and Isaac Lahey, Earls of Avenal and Escalon."

"Allison Argent as in Kate Argent? Are they related?" Derek immediately asked when he finished, Peter sighed and folded the paper again with a bored expression.

"Yes, Derek, they are. She's her niece. I found a good match with an Argent, perhaps one of you will as well."

Derek's hands folded into fists, overwhelmed with fury at the thought of another version of Kate terrorizing the palace. Cora could smell his rage and rushed to change the subject before Derek accidentally wolfed out at the dinner table.

"What about those two brothers?" she asked quickly, "How can two brothers be earls in separate kingdoms?"

Peter smiled at her, pleased with her interest in anything remotely political. "That is a fantastic question, Cora." he praised her, tucking the list into the pocket on the inside of his jacket. "You see, during the rebellion, I killed Isaac's father. And then after the rebellion I had his mother marry Stiles' father. Worked out well, uniting druid and werewolf kingdoms under a condensed rule. So Isaac took his father's old title of Earl of Escalon while Stiles' dad absorbed the title of duke, and Stiles took his father's old title of Earl of Avenal."

It was almost disgusting how absent of emotion Peter was when describing his past atrocities, his blatant corruption and manipulation of the government. The smooth, dulcet tones of his voice were lilting and carefree, as if reading a children's story.

"That makes no sense." Cora informed him, Derek snorted.

"Do politics ever make sense?"

Peter shot him a look and Laura cleared her throat for his attention, her gaze focused on her glass. "So Peter, how old are these tributes?" she asked, not without a touch of trepidation.

Derek looked up in alarm, suddenly worried about the answer; the only age they'd gotten so far was that Liam was 16. Peter tapped a finger on the side of his plate in thought, looking upwards to remember.

"I believe Allison is 18, and Kira will be in a week or two. Both Isaac and Stiles are 17."

Derek groaned in frustration, no one was within five years of him. Laura looked similarly concerned by this news. "You couldn't find anyone older?"

Peter shot her a warning look and she pressed her lips together, her shoulders drawing closer to her body.

"No."

Derek looked down at his half-eaten steak as Cora inquired when they'd be arriving, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as Peter informed her they'd be here within the hour. He suddenly wasn't hungry. "May I be excused?" he ground out, doing his best to calm his heart-rate before his uncle or sisters heard it. Peter gave him a short nod and he bowed his head as he stood, turning from the table and all but dashing from the room.

He almost collided into a servant in the hall as he rushed towards the east wing, only his footsteps on the marble floors audible in the silence. Soon these halls would be crowded with tributes, invading his space and his life; god only knew when he'd have the chance to be by himself again. He scowled and increased his pace, hooking a right to head towards his private quarters. He'd picked the least populated section in the wing because he already had to share it with his sisters, along with all their servants and friends they entertained.

He groaned when he heard the soft pitter-patter of feet behind him as someone rushed to catch up with him, turning with a flash of his glowing blue eyes. Scott McCall skidded to a halt in front of him, brown eyes wide and mouth hanging open in surprise, he nearly collided into him.

"Woah, woah, sorry." his apology spilled out of his mouth as he waved his hands frantically, Derek relaxed his stance slightly to put him more at ease. "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. I just ah," he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing to the side as he spoke. "Peter told me to make sure you're around to greet the tributes. They should be here soon. Sir."

Derek growled, feeling a bit bad when the beta winced, ignoring him and concentrating on doing his best not to strike a wall. Scott annoyed him; he'd been assigned as his personal servant when he was 16 and he had wanted nothing less, the only thing he desired was solitude. They'd entered a sort of arrangement where Derek would force extended vacations on him or give him lengthy assignments in a part of the castle far away from him, but lately Peter had been making Scott bug him about all the mating crap and he couldn't get rid of him all over again. It wasn't the kid's fault, but Derek still really, really wanted to hit him sometimes.

"Yeah, fine. I'm going to take a shower." he told him, going to turn away and continue to his room when the nervous look on Scott's face stopped him. He knew damn well Derek wasn't going to hurry through his shower to do something he didn't want to do, and was most likely concerned about receiving the fallout from Peter. "If I'm late, tell Peter I said 'fuck your tributes'."

Scott's head shot up in surprise and almost cracked a smile at him, remembering he was speaking to the prince and sucking his cheeks in to keep a serious look on his face, bowing his head. "Of course sir. Fuck the tributes. Anything you'd like me to do while I wait for your arrival?"

Derek shrugged, glancing down the hallway behind him. "Just help the kids out with getting settled I guess. Half of them are probably going to be terrified of us, and the other half'll want to murder us." he raised his eyebrows at the boy and sighed, "So, you know. Don't let anyone kill each other."

Scott's eyes twinkled in amusement and he nodded. "Got it. I'll do my best."

Derek continued on his way and reached his room, closing it firmly and locking it. He relished the quiet and moved to the bar he'd gotten installed by the door, pouring himself a glass of whiskey and taking a sip. He kicked off his shoes and padded across the black carpet around the four-poster bed to his bathroom, flicking on the light. It was unnecessarily large, smooth black tiles spanning the floors and walls, small chandeliers hung from the gray ceiling emanating a soft glow. The bathtub was on the left wall, more of a hot-tub than a bathtub, Derek figured he could probably fit about four people semi-comfortably in it if he tried. There was a small stone fountain next to the sink with a large glass shower on the right, next to it was a door to a small room with a toilet.

He took another drink and put the drink on the little table next to the door, shutting it behind him and shucked off his clothes. He swung open the glass door of the shower and walked inside, turning on the water and fiddling with the dials for the right temperature, sighing with pleasure as the water warmed up and scorched his back. Steam filled the expansive stall and clouded his lungs, the heat making his head dizzy and the boiling water searing his skin. His mother used to be alarmed at how hot he liked his showers, worried he would seriously burn himself, but as a werewolf that was fairly difficult to do and she couldn't really stop him. He basked under the warm stream, enjoying the wave of vertigo before moving to the shelf holding the soaps, unwilling to do what he came to do and return to the real world.

When he finally emerged from the shower and plodded out of the bathroom toweling himself he was already annoyed, scowling at his bedroom door. He knew damn well he had locked it and it sat partially ajar, he stomped over to it and slammed it shut. An outfit had been carefully laid out on his bed for him so it could have only been Scott; a maroon v-neck shirt and black slacks positioned on the comforter, freshly polished black shoes near the bedside table. He wandered back into the bathroom to retrieve his drink and took a healthy swig of whiskey, frowning at the clothes; his scowl deepening as his ears picked up faint laughter echoing down the hallway from the crack beneath his bedroom door. He groaned and scrubbed the towel through his damp hair before tossing it on the floor behind him; the tributes had already arrived. And if they were this deep into the east wing they'd already been shown to their rooms, and he was much, much later than he anticipated. He set down his glass with a dull thud on his bedside table and snatched up his shirt, yanking it over his head.

This was not something he was looking forward to.

**End Chapter 1.**

Hit me up with feedback, thoughts or private requests. I got like 4 of these underway (and always willing to take on more!), so make sure you tell me which you'd like me to continue. Is it a contest? Maybe. xoxoQuinn


	2. Chapter 2: Delivered to the Palace

Future couplings featuring: Peter Hale/Kate Argent. Jackson/Lydia. Laura/Erica. Derek/Stiles. Stiles/Isaac. Isaac/Cora. Scott/Kira. Laura/Allison. I may not be able to keep it all straight though.

_**And We'll Never Be Royals...**_

**Chapter 2: Delivered to the Palace**

Stiles didn't think he'd ever been more nervous in his entire life. Not when his father had gotten remarried and he'd gotten a new step-mother and brother, not when he'd had to give a speech when he'd become Earl of Avenal, not when he'd had to tell his dad he'd gotten arrested for drunkenly peeing on their neighbor's dog.

It had been almost midnight a week ago when the emissary from Beacon Palace had arrived and rang their bell, Stiles had nearly broken his neck stumbling down the stairs half asleep to see who was disturbing them. His father, Duke John Stilinski of Avenal was by the door when he made it downstairs, speaking to a mousy blond man with pale skin and a sour expression. Beady eyes assessed him behind gold-rimmed glasses as he approached them blearily; informing both of them that he and his step-brother Isaac had been selected as possible tribute to the Hale Family. He explained that all three royal children were now of age and ready to choose mates, and as he and Isaac were of the few eligible bachelors of nobility left in their respected kingdoms, they were to offer themselves up for the good of the Kingdom of Antioch.

It all sounded very official in his ears, but when he tried to process the words in his mind they got jumbled up and made no sense; he was the goddamn Earl of Avenal, how was he getting shipped off like a slave to the palace? His father's new wife Cassandra and her son Isaac slept through the whole visit, he and his father had to explain the awkward late night visit to them the next morning.

Cassandra had been overjoyed at the thought of her son and step-son being tribute, the possibility of them being considered for marriage by royalty the highest honor a mother could dream of. Stiles' father was less enthusiastic, unwilling to part with either of them, especially Stiles. Unfortunately there was little he could do against a decree from the palace without committing political suicide, so reluctantly, the documents were signed.

The next day the same man had returned for their response at eleven in the morning. He was pleased at their cooperation and collected the paperwork; returning a day later with a team of assistants to submit them to additional screening before they were confirmed as official tributes. They were analyzed in every form imaginable, psychologists watched Stiles' fidgeting fingers and bouncing knees warily while going slack-jawed hearing of Isaac's past of abuse by his dead father. They made Stiles perform a small druid spell to turn a feather into iron, and made Isaac transform into a werewolf to test their control; jotting down detailed critiques of their performances. They were asked questions about history, the English language, proper dinner etiquette; their handwriting studied and measurements taken, down to the inseam. Stiles wasn't sure he could be violated much further unless they performed a cavity search and god damn it, his heart sank as they were asked to undress.

"Why is this necessary again?" Stiles asked weakly as all two assistants approached him and Isaac, reaching out to help them undress. "Woah, easy, I can do it myself." he spluttered as a thin man's hands began attempting to unbutton his shirt, waving his hands away awkwardly. Isaac was trying to ease away from a squat woman pulling at his sleeves with a strained, polite smile frozen on his face, eyes catching his own for a minute as they shared panicked looks. Stiles folded his arms against his chest protectively and faced the man who had been leading the affair, a man who called himself Adrian Harris.

Harris pursed his lips at him and adjusted his glasses. "Because if we're bringing you to _mate_ with _royalty_, it's a good idea to make sure you're not infected with something." Small blue eyes flicked in Isaac's direction, who had lost his shirt. "Such as fleas."

His head snapped up at the comment with a dangerous expression, Stiles cleared his throat at him pointedly as he reluctantly allowed the slender man to help him remove his shirt. Harris furrowed his brow at Isaac and stood up.

"Nancy, turn him around." he instructed and the woman complied, turning Isaac so his back was facing him. She swatted his hands out of the way of his belt and knelt, swiftly pulled down his pants; Isaac jumped and almost fell over in shock, fingers gripping the waistband of his boxers desperately. His cheeks turned pink as the portly woman reached up to grab his hips to keep him from falling; once he was steady she returned to trying to yank his pants off his feet.

Harris walked closer to Isaac's back, no doubt carefully inspecting the long, thin white scars Stiles knew ran in horizontal lines down his back. "Mr. Lahey, how did you receive these marks?" Harris asked, his voice a touch deeper than before. Isaac's face was bright red as he bowed his head, trying to maintain a hold on his underwear and dignity, fending off the little woman's thick fingers.

"I already told you how awesome of a guy my dad was, remember?" he snapped over his shoulder, noticing Stiles' eyes on him as his belt was whipped off by his own assistant. "C'mon man!" he wailed as the woman's strong hands grabbed his waistband and started to pull, "Bro-code, don't watch me get violated like this."

Stiles was jolted back to the present and how freaking cold the guys fingers were when they curled around the fabric at his hips and made to tug both his pants and boxers off in one go, his mind went blank. His reflexes automatically kicked in and he scrambled to fight him off and pull them back up even though he knew it wasn't going to happen, diligently rotating his body both to give Isaac his privacy and ensure his own when he lost the battle. Slender guy was pretty strong and almost bent his pinky back with the force with which he shucked his pants off, Stiles squeaked in indignation and did his best to cover his shame, his whole body flushing with embarrassment. The man began to wrestle with his ankles to pull his pants the rest of the way off, Stiles' mouth was moving before he could stop it, voice cracking in mortification.

"Hey there fella, no dinner? I'm not that kind of girl.." he choked out as he fought to maintain his balance, hearing Isaac chuckle nervously behind him. His heart sank further when an attractive young woman joined slender guy and the two began prodding him in the ribs, taking his pulse, listening to his lungs and heartbeat.

"Mr. Stilinski. Please keep your remarks to yourself, it complicates the medical portion of our exam." Harris chastised him, already sounding annoyed. Yup, Stiles would love to be quiet but that woman just sniffed his armpit and the guy's inspecting the bottom of his foot and it's all so weird he can't help himself.

"I just want it to be on the record I'm not easy, that's all I'm saying. I don't want my file to say I let just anybody come along and undress me, doesn't look good on the resume, you know? And speaking of going on the record, let it be known that if any of this requires any sort of penetration at any time I need advanced notice."

The only reason the words had stopped spilling out of his mouth was the attractive girl had a little wooden stick and she'd stuck it in his mouth, holding down his tongue and peering around in there. Although he couldn't see slender guy, he could feel his hands attempting to pry his own away from his manly bits, almost bending his finger back again. He reluctantly let go, squeezing his eyes shut and allowing him to give him a genital exam. He focused on trying not to laugh hysterically at the fact that a room full of strangers had stripped him down and were poking at his wiener, but there were fingers in his mouth at the moment and he couldn't if he tried.

When he opened his eyes he saw that Adrian Harris had circled around him to face him, he clapped his hands over himself as the girl finished the oral exam. He stood there for a moment as Harris smirked at him, not really knowing quite what to do. He raised a blond eyebrow.

"You can get dressed, Mr. Stilinski." he said, amused as he bent quickly and scrambled to pull his pants back on. When he had zipped them and began to fumble with the belt, he leaned forward slightly, dropping his voice. "And, in case you hadn't thought about the definition of the word mate; consider this your advanced warning."

Stiles glanced up at him and back at Isaac behind him, sure he'd heard the comment with his werewolf hearing, finding the teenager staring at him. "Hey, total violation of bro-code."

Isaac was buttoning up his shirt and shot him a look as if daring him to challenge him; which Stiles really couldn't with all the times he'd caught people in compromising situations in the past. He glanced back at Harris instead. "And what did you mean by that? Are you threatening me with penetration?" Stiles gasped, causing the older man to take a few disgusted steps backwards.

"Don't be ridiculous. I was merely mentioning the possibility that one of you be claimed as a mate by the Prince."

Stiles struggled to maintain his composure, not wanting a negative reaction to effect his assessment; he hadn't considered the idea of being paired with the Prince. He hadn't really minded the thought of being forced to marry one of the princesses, Laura had done charity work with her mother for a while and Cora was only 16 so she couldn't be that bad. But if Derek was anything like Emperor Hale, he shuddered to think of what being claimed by a ruthless werewolf like that would be like. He distracted himself by putting his shirt back on, clearing his throat.

"So uh, do we get graded on these little tests of yours? Do we get to see our scores?" he asked; Isaac snorted as he tucked his own shirt in, shaking his brown curls at him.

Adrian and his crew were gathering their things and beginning to put on their jackets, apparently they had saved the most humiliating exam for last. Harris' smile was condescending and cold.

"No, you don't." he wound a scarf around his neck and glanced at the door as his assistants brought in their parents to discuss when they'd be summoned.

"We've got tributes from all kingdoms we're off to collect, starting with Madera." he pointed off in the vague direction of the southernmost kingdom. "A few stops along the way and we'll come back for them last on the way to the castle. Shouldn't be more than three days, so they ought to be ready by Sunday." he glanced over at Stiles. "And make sure they're presentable."

Stiles felt the room's eyes on him, his father sent him a pointed look and Isaac coughed beside him, glancing down. By his feet were his red silk boxers; he immediately swept them up and held them behind his back, as if he could hide them. His father sighed.

"They'll be ready." Duke Stilinski promised; Adrian Harris and the group bid them good day and took their leave. Stiles let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, his shoulders dropping.

Suddenly, the idea of being swept up by a carriage to the castle to mingle with royalty sounded less like a fantastic adventure, and more like an ominous sentence. He swallowed hard, glancing over at his father. Somehow he expected this experience wasn't gong to be an easy one.

**End Chapter 2.**

Don't forget to show your love! xoxoQuinn


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